Coyote Questions

We are surrounded it sounds like every nite with coyote's. I've heard song dogs sing all my life, but I am hearing a different call it seems like more and more frequently. Where I live, on the east side of the Little Mineral Arm of Lake Texoma, we have super thick brushy areas on COE ground in a mile long creek bottom across the street from my house. They never seem to come up into the subdivision, but I have routed them out of a bed right after light in the open weedy park between me and the water.

What drives my Brittany Spaniel nutz with really aggressive challenge barks from inside the house, is a long high yipyipyipyip bark for mebbe 1-2 minutes longand followed by a short howl from a single 'yote that sounds like it is very close to my front yard...and answered by other 'yotes howls from as far away as across the half mile open water of the LM Arm to the adjacent COE land on the far side of the creek bottom in front of the house.

When I hit the porch lights all the nearby critters go silent most of the time...but I am not finding any tracks and my 2 outdoor cats are not as spooky when I feed them between 5 & 6am as they are around the racoons that raid their food bowls just after dark.

Any insight on what this yipyipyip bark is all about??
Cheers
Ron

it's mating season right now and the males are competing against each other for females. We are hearing them too just like you described. I am not sure if it is the boys trying to woo the girl or the boys trying to deter each other. Either way it is mating related.

What Mike said.
Males are territorial and you have last years "male pups" running around trying to get into the action.

BTW, coyotes can hear higher frequencies than dogs, 80 mzh I think and dogs are less. So some sounds a dog could possibly just "miss"

That makes good sense, as it was a half grown pup that had taken to sleeping in the weedy park where I run the Brittany every morning where she has learned to terrorize all the fox squirrels for a half mile. I know one of the neighbors had reported seeing a family of 'yotes denning across the creek on COE land from me last summer/fall and getting a kick out seeing the small pups play.
Thanks
Ron

Where do you live? I live at Simmons Shores, and I have yotes come thru my yard every night. I thin them out occasionally.

I am just north of you, real close to the Elks Club. I know my old friend Ray Zipper at the old gun range on Ranger Road had H$#! keeping his exotic sheep alive and finally was down to just one old ram when his collie, Pistol, died of old age. Started keeping donkeys, then Ray got sick himself, and I didn't notice any critters of any kind in his pasture last time I was by the house.
I am too close to the Elks and other house's to do any thinning.
Ron